St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-03-07
little joys and diversions of his fellow NOR
---s.--------
HOLLYWOOD PALACE.
Arthur's Seat-.Queen Mary,s Room
"a Curious Vision
William Lyle in the Scottish American. ID

"a NUSAVus VEStOn.
William Lyle in the Scottish American. p
IL was chill, drizzly day. 1t did not
positively rain, but came so near to it as
might well be described as a Scotch
mist. sat at the window
OF my hotel overlooking Princess
street, Edinburgh. There were few pedes-
traihs IN sight and, this, taken with the
state OF the weather, brought me nearer to
sleep than to any thought of the business
that mad brought ME to the city. After a
While L resolved to shake off my lethargy
ana devote the afternoon to ''seeing the
hons," in spite of wind and weather. Full
OF my new resolution, descended to the en-
trance, hailed a cab and signified to Jehu
that Wanted to go to Hollywood. aj3s7g.i
short drive through quaint, ld-fash-
ioned thoroughfares. and I was set down in
front OF the palace. and left to my own re-
sources, indeed. was left very much to
myself, for, with the exception of two
sleepy.looking sentries pacing back and
1orth' could see no living thing. 1t was
not gala day in the heart of Midlothian,
unexpectedly or otherwise, and /
was rather pleased, for in that
case was not likely to be troubled with
crowd of companion sight-seekers. | took
look around me. There Oh my right had
stood Arthur's Seat and the Crags. like two,
grim monsters with their heads in the
clouds. Altogether the scene was not in
wiling; so L made my way to the arched
entrance OF the abbey, through which many
royal cortege had passed in the days of
OLD. After a few preliminaries and a
scarcely perceptible display of red tape
L was admitted. and made my way
as soon as possible to Queen Mary's
rooms. Understand, Queen Mary was my
particular divinity, or rather had been
when l was boy, and perhaps no man
lives who does not carry with him a portion
OF his boy heart, even in the center Of his
manhood. AS it happened. or as the
weather willed it, there were but two visit
ors beside myself; so l thought was in
luck
In spite of the watchful eyes of my guide,
into whose hand 1 slipped a good sized
Image and superscription, / contrived
frequently to linger moment or two be-
hind the party, and thus enjoy the luxury of
dream or two alone. l saw the little sup
per-room where, on that February night
long ago, poor Rizzlo had been murdered
by Darnley, Ruthven and others. I stood
long and gaZed upon the stains of blood
which. of course, are not there. and then l
turned to look at the queens work table
and the little odds and ends upon it. This
was my delight, and l could not keep my
eyes from it. l had turned to leave the
apartment and follow my guide and the
two other visitors, when most singular
| circumstance occurred, for which, of course,
you will have to take my word.
From feeling not to be described by the
pen, somehow became aware that was
| not alone in the room, although l knew
perfectly well that all doors were locked
behind us, and that my party was some
| distance in advance. felt that no pres
ence could ever be more real; indeed, I
fairly looked back to see, and was not
disappointed. There, only few feet from
where 1 stood, was lady. She leaned
slightly over the little table, upon which
| one of her hands rested. Her outline
was handsome in the extreme, and 1 re-
member thinking that my eyes had never
gaZed upon form OF more perfect lowell
ness. Her robe seemed to be of crimson
velvet while the upper part of her dress,
albeit of quaint cut and pattern, was ablaze
with jewels. It was the work of an in
slant for ME to recall pictures 1 had seen
and descriptions 1 had read, which,
when taken together. brought the convic-
ton that stood in the presence of Mary,
queen of SCOTS. or rather the air
drawn semblance of that royal lady. | was
not startled. To me. at the time, there lid
not seem to be anything strange about the
matter. l simply stood and looked into her
magnificent eyes, which were modestlv
lifted to mine. In a few seconds my mind
ran over all the trying scenes of her life; in
| deed seemed to be taken out of myself, and
waited away back into the stirring times
when the lords of the covenant stood every
man with his sword drawn, and the hapless
Mary was the sport of circumstances. BY
and by came to what had always seemed
to me to be curious part of her history,
her escapade with Boutwell,, and once again
[ mentally formulated the question, is il
| possible that so much beauty could evel
find anything to love in that scapegrace
lord? L asked myself the question, but
judge Of my amaZement when the figure
answered it, The lips moved: mo, -
| it said. ''he never owned my love:
but think, my subjects were in open rebel.
ton; my husband had been a brute when
he ought to have been my protector; I was
a woman in strange country, without a
trusty friend in the whole wide world; what
could I do?" The infinite pathos with
which she uttered those words brought a
pang to my heart, and, l must confess,
a tear to my eye. Involuntarily advanced
| tOWdru ner, eager 10 express sympathy
that sympathy which clings around the
heart of every Scotsman for one who may
have erred much, but whom the world
treated not well. AS 1 moved the figure
vanished and was alone.
Opportunity. to save me from making a
fool of myself, my party returned on their
way out, and joined them, full of wonder
full dreams and theories, but silent as to my
adventure In descending the stairway I
was first, with the jantor two steps behind.
You will believe was surprised when that
staid old gentleman gave me slap between
the shoulders hard enough to make my
watch chain rattle, and shouted, "Hello.
Sims; gone to sleep. eh?" My surprise was
increased rather than diminished when |
looked up and found it was not the old man
at all. but my young law partner, Russell,
who had come to the city on the same bust
ness as myself, and, having been shown up
| to my room, found me ''doing" old Edin-